


Art therapy

by drwhogirl



Series: Emma Caffrey [3]
Category: White Collar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24632767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drwhogirl/pseuds/drwhogirl
Summary: Emma has to deal with her grief at losing her mother. A report from her therapist.
Series: Emma Caffrey [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1780558
Kudos: 19





	Art therapy

Today I met with Miss Caffrey for the first time. She seems like a sweet, if shy child for her age. She didn’t seem particularly comfortable making eye contact and instead preferred to focus on her shoes. At first she didn’t want to leave her father’s side and started crying when he tried to let go of her hand. He had to kneel on the floor and give her a kiss on the forehead and a promise to be waiting outside when she finished.

Emma chose to sit on the floor rather than on one of the many chairs in the room so I sat down opposite her. I asked her to tell me what happened to her mother but she didn’t want to talk. Instead I suggested she might like to draw a picture of what she was thinking. She chose to draw a picture of an explosion.

When asked what the picture was of, she told me it was her mother. Clearly not willing to be particularly forthcoming with information, and needing it to begin a therapy, I suggested that she might like her father to join us.

Enthused by the idea, Emma went out to the waiting room to fetch her father Neal Caffrey. Mr Caffrey chose to sit on the chair on the other side of my desk causing Emma to choose to sit on his lap. I moved to sit opposite them at my desk, opening my notebook to take notes. Her father managed to encourage her to explain her picture to me. She explained that her mother had died in a plane explosion.

Apparently it was the first time she had seen her mother in many months, since her mother had abandoned her to be precise. Emma told me that she was left unattended for two days before her father found her. In order to be able to eat, she had to steal from a local shop until her father found her and sent her to live with “Uncle Peter and Aunt Elizabeth” until he was able to look after her himself. Neither chose to elaborate on why this was necessary, but based on the anklet her father wore and the FBI agent in the waiting room, I can safely assume he had to wait to be released from prison.

I asked Emma about the burns on her arms and legs, they were mostly healed but were still visible. Emma completely shut down at the question and her father explained that she had hugged her mother and was on her way back to her father’s side when the plane had exploded. Her Uncle Peter had arrived to tell them they shouldn’t leave New York and her father had called her over in case Emma had wanted to say goodbye.

I suggested to her father that, as she mentioned that she liked drawing, it would be a good idea for her to do art therapy. This would allow her to process her thoughts without having to try and find the words for what she feels. As art is something she already enjoys that should also encourage her to partake in the therapy. I have scheduled for her to come back next week to show me what she has done in the week.


End file.
